Charles Harper

Prolific illustrator, Mr. Charlie Harper, is an artist respected for his colorful & reductive illustrations of nature & animals. Charley-as he prefers-was born on August 4th, 1922 in Frenchtown, West Virginia and served in World War II during his tenure as a student at the Arts Academy of Cincinnati.

In 1947 Charley graduated from art school, married his college love, Edie, & received the first-ever Wilder Traveling Award. Charley & Edie honored the award by traveling for several months across the western United States. Upon returning from his inspirational travels, Harper began working for a commercial art studio in Cincinnati.

After only a few years, he set off on his own as a freelance illustrator for clients including the Ford Motor Company; Golden Press; Crosley Broadcasting Corporation & the National Parks Service.

Charley Harper is both an artist & a conservationist, having designed posters that shed light on our disappearing natural world. In 2005, Harper created a poster for Cornell University's Bird Laboratory. Charley, Edie & their son, Brett live in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the Cincinnati Museum of Modern Art will feature a retrospective of his prolific work starting 01 November, throughout 2007.

Not only is Charley's appealing style clearly of the spare & modern tone we associate with the mid - century moment in art & design, he is also a capable naturalist who has been called, "THE Audubon of his time."

His depictions of flora & fauna convey with only the most necessary marks the essences of his subjects. He is also a humorist, yet does not anthropomorphize the animals he chooses to show us. One gets the sense that Mr. Harper doesn't feel the remove of human distance or superiority toward his subjects, while also respecting with a keen observational power the intricacies & sublime design that is occurring before our eyes & at all times in nature.